22.12.2025
Axima Réfrigération supports DS Restauration in the energy performance of its logistics site in the Rennes region
In Châteaubourg (35), DS Armorique, one of the five depots of the DS Restauration group and a major player in food distribution in France, took up a double challenge: to expand its logistics site while reducing energy consumption. This challenge was met thanks to the support of the Rennes branch of Axima Réfrigération France, a specialist in natural, low-carbon refrigeration solutions, which designed and installed a new CO₂ refrigeration plant. The result: energy performance in excess of initial targets, and a stable bill despite the doubled surface area.
A site redesigned to combine growth and energy efficiency
On a logistics site, refrigeration can account for up to 50% of electricity consumption. Optimizing refrigeration is therefore a major lever for meeting three imperatives: economic, by reducing operating costs and stabilizing energy bills; environmental, by limiting the carbon footprint using sustainable technologies and natural fluids; and regulatory, by complying with the requirements of the F-GAS regulation and the tertiary sector decree, which impose ambitious targets for reducing consumption.
Faced with growing volumes and in order to optimize its refrigeration facilities, DS Armorique decided to completely rethink its refrigeration system. Axima Réfrigération, a specialist for over 30 years in installations using natural fluids and an entity of Equans France, thus led the complete overhaul of the refrigeration system, doubling the refrigerated zone and installing an energy-optimized transcritical CO₂ power plant.
The works were carried out without interrupting the cold chain, guaranteeing continuity of logistics activities. On completion of the project, the storage area doubled, while the energy bill remained unchanged.
An innovative, high-performance, sustainable installation
Over and above technological change, the project carried out for DS Armorique is part of a performance and sustainability approach. It is based on a ten-year Energy Performance Contract (EPC), guaranteeing the company long-term technical and financial support.
Thanks to this system, energy consumption is continuously monitored and optimized, with precise performance commitments and remote control of installations. The logistics platform now benefits from a latest-generation refrigeration plant, one of the most efficient on the market.
It incorporates an innovation never before seen in logistics in France: the combination of supercharging positive-negative evaporators, which involves injecting an additional quantity of refrigerant into the evaporators to improve cold exchange.
The result: the cooling surface operates at 100% of its capacity, cold is produced more efficiently, and energy consumption remains perfectly under control. This unique technological advance enables DS Armorique to produce more cold with the same amount of electricity. Another advantage: a heat recovery system that recovers up to 250 kW of energy. In concrete terms, the heat produced by the compressors is recovered instead of being lost, and then used to de-ice equipment and keep floors frost-free.
"This project demonstrates that it is possible to combine business growth, energy performance and environmental responsibility. By choosing the CPE model and CO₂ technology, DS Restauration is showing the way for many logistics platforms that are today faced with aging, energy-hungry refrigeration facilities. This type of modernization proves that investing in energy efficiency also means investing in the competitiveness and sustainability of our regional businesses," says Aymeric Rehel, works manager at Axima Réfrigération, an Equans France entity.
